The second week of New Zealand’s own T20 League Super Smash 2017/18 kick starts with the re-match between Wellington Firebirds vs Northern Knights. Both teams met last week and that was Knights home game. Firebirds won that away game by 32 runs. Will Firebirds beat Knights at home too? Match 7 scheduled to start at 4 PM Local | 8:30 AM IST in Wellington on Wednesday, 20th Decemeber 2017.

WELLINGTON FIREBIRDS :

Wellington based franchise set to play the first home game of the T20 season on Wednesday. Wellington Firebirds has played 2 matches so far on the first week. First they beat Knights by 32 runs then faced Otago Volts but that game was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain. Firebirds has named an unchanged 12-man squad for this fixture against Knights. Iain McPeake was the one who played 12th role in previous matches and he will play the same role on Wednesday too. Former New Zealand opener and captain of Firebirds Hamish Marshall opened the innings with wicket-keeper batsman Tom Blundell in the previous encounter against Knights. Marshall played a captain’s knock in that game and scored 48 off 29 balls at top of the order. He used to aggressively in past Super Smash seasons and he started off with that same mode this year too. So, we can expect another good start and quick scoring from him. Tom Blundell managed to score only 4 runs in that last game. Blundell who scored international hundred for Blackcaps two weeks ago, will come good in this game on Wednesday evening. Stephen Murdoch batted at no. 3 and scored 15 off 16 balls last week. The 34-years old has an impressive records in T20 cricket. His highest T20 score was 92*. He has a capacity to score runs quickly in this game.

The International signing all-rounder Samit Patel started off the season well with 31 runs and a wicket. He managed to score 31 runs with 3 fours and a six, later on picked 1 for 29 in his 4 overs spell. He was struggling for a form throughout BPL season but his quick half-century in the last game of that tournament helped him to score some runs for Firebirds. He is the match winner and he could take Firebirds home with his all-around performances. The middle-order batsman Michael Bracewell smashed 56 off just 28 balls in the second half of Firebirds innings. He hits 4 fours and 3 sixes with a strike-rate of 200. Chances are there for him to shine with a bat once again against the same opponent. Matt Taylor played as the specialist batsman in the first game, he is expected to play the similar role in this game too. He maintains a strike-rate of over 140 in T20 cricket and that shows how hard he could hit the ball in end overs. Netherlands bowling all-rounder Logan van Beek playing for Firebirds. He bowled a bit expensive spell in the first meet and picked 1 for 36 in 4 overs. As he bats at no. 7 and bowls full quota of 4 overs, he is very useful player in the side and he will give you enough points which you are expecting. The former Kiwi off-spinner Jeetan Patel has a big role to play in this game. He bowled a decent spell of none for 19 in 4 overs in the first game. He is the key player of Firebirds and deserves place in your teams too. Team didn’t require a service of left-arm spinner Luke Woodcock in the first game. But, he will come into play and no surprises too if he take two or more wickets on Wednesday. Anurag Verma claimed 3 wickets in that game last week but he conceded 37 runs in 4 overs. He used to bowl slightly expensive spell but his wicket taking skills will give more fantasy points. Hamish Bennett was the best bowler of the night for Firebirds. He had taken two for 18 in his 4 overs and assured a victory for the team. Keep an eyes on the fast bowler who are expected to bowl an impressive spell again on Wednesday.

NORTHERN KNIGHTS :

Knights started the season with 32 runs defeat to Firebirds on last Friday. They came back so strong on very next night and beat Auckland Aces by 7 runs in the high-scoring clash. Knights has made few important changes to their 13-man squad. Tim Southee is not available due to national duties and Ben Laughlin left to Australia to play BBL. The all-rounder Scott Kuggeleijn and Joe Walker added to the squad for Wednesday fixture. The openers Anton Devcich and Tim Seifert had a very tough outing against Firebirds but both of them gave solid start against Aces. All-rounder Devcich scored 33 runs with a bat and also picked 1 for 28in his 4 overs spell. Meanwhile, his opening partner Tim Seifert scored an outstanding century in that game against Aces. His 42 balls knock includes 9 fours and 9 huge sixes. Both of these openers are the key for Knights. Brett Hampton was promoted up in the order and he smashed 12 balls 28 runs at no. 3.

Captain Dean Brownlie started off well in both occasions but couldn’t capitablized, scored 25 and 10 runs respectively. Two back-to-back failures for the experienced Daniel Flynn. Either Flynn or Nick Kelly will make a way for all-rounder Scott Kuggeleijn who was the best performer of Knights last year. Kuggeleijn will play crucial role with both bat and bowl for Knights and every fantasy team should have him in it. Daryl Mitchell scored handy 32 runs against Firebirds, he could be key in Knights middle-order on Wednesday. Ish Sodhi did a great job against Firebirds where he picked 2 wickets with a ball and also scored 51 off 36 balls lower down the order. But he had contrasting opposite day against Aces. He was very expensive in that game against Aces. He could be back strong and the leg-spinner is expected to bowl one more impressive spell against Firebirds. After bowled 2 for 29 against Firebirds, the veteran fast bowler Brent Arnel finished with none for 44 in the last game. He is not consistent always and that’s not easy to predict his performance. He has 50/50 chances to perform well in this game on Wednesday night. Brett Randell and Peter Bocock were the players who sat out on Saturday. Joe Walker named in the squad for this game. As he wasn’t much experienced in T20 cricket, Brent Randell has a chance to make his return on Wednesday.

Cricket is what everyone loves. If you’re ready to play fantasy cricket but don’t know how to analyze players, consider his Articles as the foundation of your fantasy teams. Anand is a cricket blogger and fantasy cricket lover.

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